Friday Thrive

Hi there – happy Friday! Today is just two days away from the California International Marathon and I am really, really excited about race day. But before that, let’s get to this week’s Friday Thrive – a round up of my favorite reads, gear, recipes, and more from the week. 

Run 

“Why Running without a Watch is So Important for Your Training” by Amanda Casanova for Women’s Running. 

I am super excited to be cited in this article! Casanova discusses the benefits of running without monitoring your pace. So many external factors affect pace – weather, fatigue, etc. – and so many runners do damage to their training by forcing a certain pace rather than monitoring perceived effort (especially on easy days).  

Eat

I went on a baking spree last week for Thanksgiving and I have to share with you what I made, despite not taking any decent photos. For the pie I used my go-to all-butter crust recipe from Smitten Kitchen, this time with European butter and blind-baked before adding the filling, and this recipe from King Arthur Flour for pumpkin pie. Ryan told me this was the best pumpkin pie I’ve ever made, and honestly, I have to agree: the pie was incredibly delicious with a perfect texture., and I usually prefer apple to pumpkin pie.

For breakfast, we enjoyed this pumpkin coffee cake from Sally’s Baking Addiction, again with European butter in the crumb topping (I skipped the glaze topping because I’m not a fan of that – I’m all about the crumb topping). I used whole wheat pastry flour and coconut oil for the cake and it was so ridiculously good that the two of us demolished the cake in a matter of three days. 

Wear

Rainy season has started in the Seattle area! The sun doesn’t rise until almost 7:30 AM here and on rainy mornings, the skies will remain dark and gray well into the morning – meaning both visibility and staying dry are priorities on a run. In addition to my trusty Patagonia Houdini, I’ve started wearing a reflective vest (Amphipod Xinglet). It might be overkill by the end of my run, but I feel much safer during the first few miles, especially if Ollie and I are running along any roads or crossing any intersections.

Read

“How an Olympic Runner Hits Race Weight” by Alex Hutchinson for Outside. 

One of the biggest myths about weight as a runner is that your weight should remain the same throughout the entire year. Truth is, whether or not you deliberately try to reach a racing weight or not, you are likely leaner after several weeks of dedicated training than you are during the off-season – and this is good. This article shows just how much an Olympic runner allows her weight to fluctuate based on competitive and non-competitive phases.

What’s most notable is that she maintained a healthy bone density, regular menstrual cycles, and what the author rightly calls “enviable” iron levels. As the article argues, gaining weight during the off-season improved her health, rather than trying to maintain the same weight year-round. 

Celebrate

Ann Marie ran a 10K PR!
Jamala ran a 5K PR! 
Erin ran a marathon!
Brian ran a 10K PR! 
P.J. ran close to his 10K PR on a very hilly course! 

And yes, I just talked about pie and racing weight in the same blog post. You can tell I’m thinking about both Cal International Marathon on Sunday and everything that I am going to eat (and drink) to celebrate afterward. 

Do you wear visibility gear for winter running?
Do you prefer frosted baked goods or crumb topping?